RIM will refresh its highly successful BlackBerry Bold 9700 with a few tweaks with a targeted October launch. While our sources tell us that the final decision on the model number has yet to be made, the refreshed version will apparently be a member of the Bold family.

When comparing the 9700 to the new refreshed version, the changes are actually quite minor. The fact is that most of the modifications center on the introduction of the BlackBerry OS 6.0 release and include an increase in base memory to 512MB, while the MicroSD support will be upped to allow the use of MicroSD HC cards up to 32MB. The biggest change, however, will be the ability to use MicroSD HC cards for the storage and running of applications.

Beyond the base memory increase and the enhancements to the MicroSD support, the new refreshed model will add a 5 Mega Pixel camera with auto-focus and flash. While the refreshed version is being called the E020, we continue to hear that most likely model numbers for the unit are the Bold 9750 or 9780. The decision of a refreshed unit with double the base memory does make current Bold 9700 owners wonder about the possibility of OS 6 upgrades; we continue to hear little information about this from our sources, beyond that they don’t know what RIM’s plans are at this point. We will just have to wait and see.